South Shore Collaborative teachers prepare for the worst

Thursday

Mar 13, 2014 at 2:46 AMMar 13, 2014 at 2:52 AM

The sound of gunshots had teachers at the South Shore Educational Collaborative scrambling to push desks and chairs against a classroom door, hoping they would be enough to keep the intruder out. They were taking part in training exercise meant to prepare them in case something terrible ever does happen at the Hingham school, which serves students with a range of intellectual, emotional, social and medical challenges.

Neal Simpson The Patriot Ledger @nsimpson_ledger

HINGHAM – The sound of gunshots had teachers at the South Shore Educational Collaborative scrambling to push desks and chairs against a classroom door, hoping they would be enough to keep the intruder out.Of course, the sound came from the firing of blanks, and the teachers were never in danger, but the exercise was meant to prepare them in case something terrible ever does happen at the South Shore Collaborative, an educational center in Hingham for students with a range of intellectual, emotional, social and medical challenges.

School personnel took part in two days of training this week with Hingham police officers and members of Synergy Law Enforcement Solutions, a security consulting firm. A third day of training is set for next week.

“It’s really to avoid a tragedy,” said Henry Perrin, the school’s executive director. “Hopefully we never have to deal with it, but with so many things happening in schools, colleges, malls and places like that, we felt like we need to at least do some training.”

Perrin said the training, which took place in the school’s new building on Abington Street, has been aimed at teaching staff members how to respond to potential threats to their students in several scenarios, such a being in a classroom, hallway or auditorium. He said consultants are also helping the school tailor threat responses for each of its educational programs.